Chapter 167 - Not Worthy Of Being Saved

"I'm just a mere woman not worthy of being saved. Let me say all these things about me."

She wasn't lying. She was telling the truth. Wasn't she? She might not have been a good lay. 

She was crumbling. She couldn't save herself. She was hurting and so she was hurting him too. Only hurt people hurt others. And this was what she was doing. 

She was breaking apart. There was no one to catch her. She had no one to lean on. Who would she rely on? 

Confusion was better than this clarity. 

This clarity was like an inconvenient feeling to her. 

She was craving for one more sweet lie or a safe illusion once again. 

Suddenly, her rage settled as sadness and helpless once again took over. She looked at him with a soft gaze as if she was about to plead to him. 

"I don't think I will be able to survive, " She told him. She wasn't saying that she would be able to defeat the monster who was no one else but her father. 

Although she hates Santiago for what he did to her, for lying and cheating her, still she wouldn't call him the ultimate villain of his life. 

It was her father. The father who brought her to this end. He killed her mama. He liked Lucian. Now he was out to kill her and her unborn baby. 

He didn't know what end Lucian and mama met. But she didn't want to think the same about herself. Or once could say she didn't dare to. 

She, like every other mother on the planet, would like to look forward to the future where her child would be living the best life with her. 

She didn't want it to just end up as wishful thinking on her part. 

She wanted it to be true so badly. 

But who had seen the future? 

And who had ever defeated Don Marino? 

That monster wins. He always wins. And she didn't like to believe this but she knows that he will win this time too. 

"Santiago Vitello, will you at least fulfill that one left wish?" She asked him hopefully. "Can you make sure I and my child are buried with the honor we deserve and not end up as a meal for stray dogs or scavengers." 

These words broke him, laid bare before her eyes. He fell on her feet as she felt liquid trickle down on her bare feet. She refused to believe it was what it was. How could Santiago Vittelo, the badass Villain capable of producing tears? 

He didn't look up but she heard his broken voice all too clearly. For the first time in her life, a man was begging her while falling on her feet, but her fragile heart turned cold, refused to be moved. 

"I beg you don't talk about death. Please calm down. You can hate me, beat me or kill me...but please calm down...if not for me for the child in your womb? Please, Persephone. Please." 

"I know there is nothing I can do to make you believe me but I vow to protect you and the many at the cost of my life. As long as I shall live, no danger dares to come near you. I will die protecting you both. You don't have to believe me, Persephone. You don't have to forgive me. You don't have to do anything at all. I will protect you both. I will…"

These were the last words Santiago and Persephone exchanged that day. 

That day broke and created something between them. 

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the day changed them forever. 

They could never be the same. 

Heavens avenged Persephone by taking away the sole ambition of Santiago's life. He was nothing but an empty and broken man. A man who would never be able to be whole again. What Lorenzo couldn't broke inside him was broken by his own self! 

What a pity!!

What a pity!

A love so great and strong was lost. And no one else was the reason but them. 

A pity indeed. 

…. 

Author Note: 

To say that this chapter while writing broke something inside me wouldn't be an exaggeration. Persephone and Santiago had broken my heart in many ways that I have never thought was possible. This angst, sadness and utter helplessness is paralyzing me. 

Sometimes I wonder, a woman, who had never experienced love before, was capable of writing this story. Literally, this is a shocker for me too. 

I have been having complaints about how Santiago is a bad man and he ain't deserve Persephone. He is a vicious man and how Persephone wasn't equal in this story and how they shouldn't be together...etc etc… 

I agree, Santiago Vitello, is not a good man. He is dubbed as a villain for a reason. I told you in the beginning that he is a man beyond redemption. He wouldn't change himself for a woman so easily, especially his enemy's daughter. 

We all have a soft spot for Persephone because she is our Heroine but for Santiago, in the beginning, she is nothing more than a stolen bride and Alessandro's daughter. 

The deal they signed, they both were willing. P was not forced. She was attracted to him even before he put forward the contract. 

If Santiago was evil, Persephone was no goody goody baby. She did fare share of manipulations and stuff because it was necessary for survival. 

She was Attracted to him. She burned for him. She longed for him. So, please dear readers stop saying she suffered because that agreement. 

He played with his head and it was wrong but it was necessary for Persephone's survival. Don Marino is cruel even to his children. So, would he leave the change of interrogating the hell outta his daughter to search for the man who dared to oppose him?!

As for her suicidal thoughts and unexpected pregnancy, her pitiful condition and Santiago responsible for all of them… he is not the only factor. 

Last but not least, curse the characters for crying out loud, not the author. 

Thank you!